A software-defined networking (SDN) network allows network administrators to orchestrate and automate control of network services, such as network components and applications through abstraction of a lower level functionality. A SDN controller in the SDN network makes decisions about how network traffic is processed by instructing switches within the SDN network to define forwarding behavior of data packets traveling across the SDN network according to priorities set by high-level policy or business logic.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.